BW:Stocks, Dollar Index Fall on U.S. Growth Concerns; Metals Gain
June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Asia and Europe extended last week’s losses while the Dollar Index touched a one-month low as slowing U.S. jobs growth fueled concern the recovery in the world’s largest economy is faltering. Metals rallied.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent as of 4:04 p.m. in Tokyo, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.1 percent. The Dollar Index slid 0.1 percent. The euro reached a one-month high versus the dollar amid prospects policy makers will reiterate their plans to prepare a new aid package for Greece. Zinc, lead and silver jumped more than 1.5 percent. Oil sank as much as 0.4 percent in New York, sliding for a second day.
A series of disappointing economic data capped by last week’s jobs report is prompting even some of the more optimistic economists to question the durability of the U.S. recovery, with the Federal Reserve set to complete its $600 billion bond- purchase program this month. European Union and International Monetary Fund officials agreed to pay the next installment to Greece under last year’s bailout, paving the way for an upgraded aid package that includes a “voluntary role” for investors.
“The U.S. economy is not half as strong as some people believe it is and this is just confirmation that without fiscal and monetary stimulus and heavy government support, the economy is not able to stand on its own two feet,” Hans Goetti, chief investment officer for Asia at Finaport Investment Intelligence, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Singapore.
Losing Streak
About seven shares retreated for every two that gained on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The gauge extended its five-week slump that was the longest weekly losing streak since October 2008. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1.2 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 percent. India’s Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index sank 0.5 percent. Financial markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan are shut for holidays today.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant that was damaged by the March earthquake and subsequent tsunami, plunged 28 percent after the Tokyo Shimbun reported it will post a full-year net loss of around 570 billion yen ($7.1 billion). Yields on Tepco’s euro-denominated 4.5 percent notes due in March 2014 advanced 0.8 basis point to a record 13.03 percent, according to BNP Paribas SA prices. The yields were 2.77 percent a day before the quake.
Qantas Airways Ltd. sank 3.7 percent, leading a drop among airlines, after the International Air Transport Association cut its 2011 airline-industry profit forecast by 54 percent. Sony Corp. and Elpida Memory Inc. led exporters lower.
‘Dreadful’ Number
The S&P 500 fell 1 percent on June 3, also completing a fifth consecutive weekly loss, after Labor Department figures showed payrolls grew by 54,000 in May, trailing the median economist estimate of 165,000. The jobless rate unexpectedly climbed to 9.1 percent. Other reports last week showed manufacturing growth slowed and consumer confidence weakened.
Stephen Stanley of Pierpoint Securities LLC and Michael Feroli of JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among analysts voicing concern the lull in the economy may prove prolonged, leaving it more vulnerable to external shocks or policy missteps.
“We were anticipating a pretty dreadful number and it did turn out worse than we expected,” Arjuna Mahendran, Singapore- based head of investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We’ll have another few weeks of a gradual sell-off.”
Economic reports this week will probably show the U.S. trade deficit widened in April to a 10-month high, while prices of goods from abroad decreased in May by the most in almost a year, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg News.
Europe’s Outlook
IntercontinentalExchange Inc.’s Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six major trading partners, earlier fell as much as 0.2 percent to the lowest level since May 5. The U.S. currency fell to as low as $1.4658 per euro, the lowest level since May 5, before trading at $1.4647. Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers, and Olli Rehn, EU Economic and Monetary Commissioner, are scheduled to speak in Strasbourg, France today.
Producer prices in the euro region climbed 6.6 percent in April from a year earlier, after a 6.7 percent increase in March, a Bloomberg News survey of economists showed before today’s report. The March producer-price inflation rate was the highest since September 2008.
The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to $1.0752 before the Reserve Bank meets tomorrow. The Singapore dollar and Malaysia’s ringgit both strengthened the most in a week, buoyed by expectations regional policy makers will favor currency appreciation and higher interest rates to contain inflation as their economies expand. They gained 0.4 percent to S$1.2287 versus the greenback and 0.3 percent to 3.0015, respectively.
Metals, Wheat
Metals gained on the London Metal Exchange, with zinc rallying 1.7 percent. Copper gained 0.8 percent, lead rose 2.3 percent and nickel climbed 0.9 percent. Cash silver jumped 1.2 percent to $36.68 an ounce, bound for a second day of gains.
Wheat for July delivery rose as much as 0.6 percent to $7.78 a bushel, extending a two-day, 1.9 percent rally. Prices will advance 20 percent to as high as $9.25 a bushel by Dec. 31, a Bloomberg survey of 14 analysts and traders shows, as the worst droughts in decades wilt wheat fields from the U.S. to the U.K. and China, overwhelming Russia’s return to grain markets.
Crude for July delivery slid 0.2 percent to $100.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before a June 8 meeting by ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. OPEC will likely leave its output target unchanged, according to a Bloomberg survey of 30 analysts conducted May 24-31. Brent crude oil dropped 0.1 percent to $115.68 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
--With assistance from Rishaad Salamat, Susan Li, Shelley Smith and James Regan in Hong Kong, Rocky Swift and Yusuke Miyazawa in Tokyo, and Ron Harui, Kristine Aquino and Alexander Kwiatkowski in Singapore. Editor: James Poole
To contact the reporter on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net